Shape Effects in PowerPoint 2007 for Windows

Explore shape effects that can be applied to shapes in PowerPoint 2007 for Windows.

Author:Geetesh Bajaj

Product/Version: PowerPoint 2007 for Windows

OS: Windows XP and higher

Date Created: February 23, 2009Last Updated: February 23, 2009

PowerPoint 2007 takes the entire "effects" concept to a much more sophisticated level than the shadows and 3-D effects you could attain
in Poweroint 2003 and previous versions of PowerPoint. These effects are usually applied to selected shapes on a slide. There are six effects
available in PowerPoint 2007:

Shadow,

Reflection,

Glow,

Soft Edges,

Bevel, and

3-D Rotation.

We'll explain each of these effects in individually detailed pages within this series. In this first tutorial of the series, we'll explain the
basics of applying effects.

Note: In addition to the six effects listed above, PowerPoint 2007 also provides an option to apply preset effects that are a
combination of several effects applied to the same slide object.

Follow these steps to apply an effect to a shape in PowerPoint 2007:

Select the shape that you want to apply the effect to. Alternatively, if you just want to follow this tutorial step-by-step, launch PowerPoint.
Most of the time, PowerPoint will open with a new slide in a presentation PowerPoint 2007 users can change the slide layout to Blank by selecting
Home tab | Layout | Blank.

Under the Home or Insert tab of the Ribbon, choose the Shapes button to view
the Shape gallery that you can see in Figure 1. Select the Rectangle (or any other shape), and then either drag and
draw, or click once on the blank slide to place an instance of the shape.

Figure 1: Shape gallery

Select the shape so that the Ribbon area now shows the Drawing Tools Format tab, as shown in
Figure 2. Activate this Ribbon tab.

Figure 2: Drawing Tools Format tab of the Ribbon

Note: The Drawing Tools Format tab is a Contextual tab, These tabs are special tabs in the
Ribbon that are not visible all the time, they only make an appearance when you are
working with a particular slide object which can be edited using special options.

From the Drawing Tools Format tab, locate the Shape Effects group, as shown in Figure 3.

Figure 3: Shape Effects

All the seven options (one preset and six effect types) are explained below:

A. Preset

This option provides some ready to use Shape Effects, which can be applied to any shape.
Learn More.

B. Shadow

Applies shadow effects to the selected shape. PowerPoint provides three types of shadows: outer, inner and perspective, and you
can apply any of these, or customize them to your requirement.
Learn More.

C. Reflection

This option applies a reflection to the selected shape, and you can choose from several reflection styles. Remember you don't
want to use shadow and reflection for the same slide object such as a shape.
Learn More.

D. Glow

Glow adds a hazed, blurred color perimeter outside the shape area. PowerPoint provides several glow variations; the glow colors
are based on the Theme colors, although you can also choose any other color you like.
Learn More.

Have your ever used keyboard shortcuts and sequences in PowerPoint? Or are you a complete keyboard aficionado?
Do you want to learn about some new shortcuts? Or do you want to know if your favorite keyboard shortcuts are documented?